The Dengler Domain: Sports Achievements

January 26, 2018

As a child, I loved to pretend I was in a big moment during a sporting event. It was the last second shot to win the basketball game, the catch to win the football game, or the home run to win it all. Winning the big game was important as a child. This was the best part of the games. It was achieving a feat only the select few can do. These are the home runs, dunks, sprinting the fastest time, catching the big catch, making the big pin, or the in between big moments. These are the three biggest feats in no particular order.

The first one is sprinting the fastest time. This is not sprinting the 800. People who ran this race at a full sprint are something else. When I ran this race, I made one lap, and I was looking for an oxygen mask. The sprint I am talking about is the 100-meter dash. It is the biggest track spectacle at the Olympics. Everyone wants to know who is the fastest person in the world. Running this race would be exhilarating. Everyone gives their best effort in a ten second span. I would love to win this race, and I would be the fastest one at the meet. Plus, if a pack of wolves were released, I would be the best at avoiding them.

Dunking a basketball would be another great feat. Unfortunately, I was blessed with small enough hands where palming a basketball is not an option. This is in addition to my mediocre hops. A good slam always amps up the crowd, and I would love to have this feeling even if it was by myself in a gym. The exertion of force off the floor for a thunderous dunk is phenomenal. I do not dream of the one hand pathetic dunks. My go to dunk would be a between the legs tomahawk dunk.

Hitting a home run would also be a fun experience. My swing was atrocious in high school so I never hit one beyond the fences. My swing lacked hips, and this is not what a successful baseball player does. Watching a walk off grand slam is in my top five sporting moments. Hitting the ball and feeling the moment of knowing it is leaving the park would be amazing. Hitting a ball with the perfect amount of bat speed, perfect angle, at the perfect time is a feat. If I hit a home run, I would flip my bat so hard it would go over the backstop fence.

Sprinting the fastest time, dunking a basketball, and hitting a home run would be astounding sport moments. If you are not a sports fan, everyone has an interest which would be qualitatively the same. Feeling the highest of highs is a great feeling. We all want to do something not every human can do, but the greatest achievement is you are your own person. You already achieved something no one else can be.